Meet C Scott Stevanus

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful C Scott Stevanus. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with C Scott below.

C Scott, so excited to have you with us today. So much we can chat about, but one of the questions we are most interested in is how you have managed to keep your creativity alive.
I keep my creativity alive by traveling all over the world, as well as searching the internet for European styles making their way to the United States. I am constantly researching new products and materials to incorporate in the floral business. As we are a custom design studio not relying on wire service business, I also need to anticipate the needs of my customers. Brides also add an additional level of creativity needed to incorporate their vision and concepts to make their wedding a one of a kind event. I am constantly scanning fashion magazines, interior design magazines, watching films and art exhibits to find interesting and unusual color combinations, as well as trending colors and patterns. Visiting the markets in Las Vegas, New York and Atlanta as well as the furniture market show in North Carolina allows me a first look at trends that are heading our way. I think including new flower varieties and plant material ahead of my competition makes people want to come into the store to see what’s new and interesting. Introducing people to new flowers and fauna is fun and exciting. It also allows me to experiment with the product and flex my creative thinking.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
My present focus is our storefront in Downtown Cleveland, creating dramatic window displays to bring people into our location. By working with local bridal magazines the shop is able to showcase creative designs for their bridal shows, as well as in-print and articles. We also launched a partnership with a lifestyle magazine that features us on the cover, the back cover, the inside cover and throughout to boost sales to country clubs, event spaces, as well as event coordinators. We also work a lot with our downtown hotels, creating packages for guests coming into town with items such as flowers, candles, chocolates, spa packages or any other requested items. Developing a relationship locally with small businesses also helps with reciprocal marketing. We currently carry a line of all natural soaps, lotions, lip balm, etc., and also scented candles that are vegan and soy wax in a variety of containers, styles and price points. Arrangements can be as simple as a dozen roses or a complete romance package, with which we can decorate your room with balloons, flowers and candles to surprise your significant other. The most exciting thing about what I do is that every day is a new possibility to create something I have not done before and keeps my creative muscle flexed.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
I think the first thing is the passion to do what you want to do and love what you do. Obviously money is important, but if you break out into a rash every day when you get up to go to work your health will fail quickly. I believe that following your dreams will eventually lead you to money because it doesn’t seem like work. However, that being said, just because you love something doesn’t mean that you should not be compensated properly. I believe when I was younger my zest for being in the floral industry was taken advantage of by lack of pay, health insurance and other benefits like vacations. This particular industry is very hard on your body, and as I get older I realize standing 8-12 hours a day, working all holidays and rushed lunches have taken a toll. It’s important to take care of yourself so that you can properly concentrate on the task at hand. I also believe that I had an innate creative ability, as growing up I was always involved with craft shows and travelled with my parents all around the country selling our handmade items. I believe I learned at an early age because of that to be responsible and understand business on a small level and upon joining the multi-million dollar floral industries learning how a small business can fit into a large market by creating a niche. I think in set design and wardrobe styling for local photographers also add to my repertoire and finding creative ways to incorporate florals in their photography session. The thing I would say to someone starting out which I was not privy to is taking photos of all of your creations. With cell phones it is so easy to capture them now vs. when I had to use a film camera and would shoot and hope for the best when the film was developed. Sometimes I wasn’t very good and lost entire gorgeous events. Even if you think you can get your photos from the professional photographer, I will tell you less than 5% of the time that is true. And if you do receive, it’s never focused on just the flowers. Normally there will be people in the photos, which you can’t use for your marketing. With the advent of the internet, it’s so easy to put yourself and your work out there, but al lot of times shops fail to grasp the importance of getting themselves on social media, which is time consuming, but the benefit outweighs the cost of a few hours. However, posting unstaged photos is sometimes not flattering. It’s best to use a background that does not have a lot going on or people in the pictures. A blank canvas is best, so that the focus can be specifically on your art. A well maintained website, even if you have a wire service, should have original designs on it. This showcases your shop and sets it apart from others. As an example, this year for Valentine’s Day we were able to procure interesting packaging such as encased hearts, single boxed roses and offering unique add-on packages to create more revenue.

How can folks who want to work with you connect?
We are always looking to add to our storefront and collaborate with artists either local or nationally, to help spread the word about their brand as well as ours. I love collaborating with local small businesses, but also like to find small businesses in other areas of the country so as to not oversaturate the market with their products. Ideally a proven success with their products and their passion to stand behind their products is what I’m looking for in a collaboration. I love introducing new products in the store, which changes help bring in repeat customers looking for the new best thing. We like the products to be relevant to our floral and gift department so that it’s not an odd combination. Obviously we wouldn’t want to for instance carry fishing lures, no matter how passionate the person selling them may be. It would need to mesh with our brand. I do love fishing lures. My brother makes some amazing lures, but I’m not buying his to carry in the store either. What we like to do initially is a test period of three months to give a product a chance to get recognized and sold. We typically consign the first shipment of product instead of buying outright to ensure it’s a good fit for both parties. If you have a large quantity of products such as scented candles, we would probably not want to carry all 20 varieties, but your 5 top sellers to get an initial read on our customers’ preferences is best. We would also want to carry at least a half dozen of each so that it doesn’t look sparse on the shelf. When we get a new product in we generally post on social media and feature it in the impulse section at our store. The best way to get our attention and carry the product is the packaging. I love beautiful packaging because if it doesn’t need anything other than a ribbon to give as a gift it makes it more appealing on the shelf. I think the packaging is just as important as the product within. If you want to send a sample to the store, the best thing to do is call or email us and let us know that a sample is coming. We’ll give you an address. You can do your pitch over the phone and we can let you know if we think it will be a good fit. If you have a website where we can actually see the product when you’re calling us, that is also helpful, but we understand the cost of maintaining a website when you’re just starting out may be daunting but not absolutely necessary to get shelf space at our location. We are particularly looking for artists that do beautiful floral prints on cards or small framed prints. Also, unique items that you think may work well in a floral/gift department are always welcome.

Contact Info:

Image Credits
Ohio Weddings Magazine – Barb Stitzler (bridal black and white picture) All others C Scott Stevanus

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